The teenage market is the next hot thing for publishers, especially the teen girl category. Paul Kerton leapt in with Wicked and now, after testing the waters with copies that were bundled with Fair Lady, Seventeen is set to go stand-alone.
First launched in 1944 in the United States, Seventeen has a monthly audited circulation in that country of 2.5 million. The title was recently acquired from the US’s Primedia by Hearst Corporation for $180 million. Hearst already owns CosmoGirl (US circulation 1.6 million) and has moved über-editor Atoosa Rubenstein across to their new addition.
The idea of a South African Seventeen (there are over 14 international editions) was first punted to Media24 by women’s magazine publisher Samantha Sneddon. Sneddon, who oversaw Fair Lady, True Love, Sarie and the bridal magazines, has resigned from Media24 and set up a joint venture – she apparently has a 50 percent shareholding – with her former employees to publish the magazine. The new company, 8 Ink Media, will be housed in a trendy loft space at the LifeStyle Centre on Kloof Street in Cape Town. In the editor’s hot seat will be Justine Daly, who was features assistant and online editor at Shape magazine.
Also jumping into the fray is the new editor of the revamped tvplus magazine, Izelle Venter. Part of the Family Magazine division of Media24 (You, Huisgenoot, Drum), tvplus, which has gone from monthly to fortnightly, now has a special pullout teen section in every issue. Venter is currently running a competition with her readers to find a suitable name for the section. Hey, it worked for Isidingo, no reason why it won’t work for a magazine.
But is there money to be made in this market? Wicked and Seventeen, though intended for the 17-plus market, actually aim for the 12 to 15-year-olds. (Cosmopolitan, Elle and the much-awaited Glamour probably reach deeper into the 17-year-old market). And more than 40 percent of tvplus readers are in the 16-24 bracket. Sneddon is adamant that she’s not going for the ‘tweens’ market (12 to 13-year-olds) but more for the 13 to 19-year-old segment.
At the moment, Wicked has a circulation of about 14,500. Kerton said that its best sales were in April when they did 17,000 (though this is not audited). According to Sneddon, Seventeen is aiming for 17,000 within the first 12 months. However, as she pointed out, the US version competes directly with Cosmo in terms of numbers and ideally she would love to see it eventually do Cosmo’s sort of numbers in South Africa.
Circulation revenue is important but success depends on the advertisers. It seems obvious that it’s harder to persuade an advertiser that you reach a market that in turn must persuade someone else (a parent) to cough up the money to buy the product. Better to go straight to the person with the cash. So, while there are some products that will be prepared to go this route, i.e. direct to the teenager, the bigger players (cars, major fragrance and beauty products) will stick with the older market (Cosmo, Shape, Maire Claire, Elle). In a way, tvplus can get the best of both worlds, attracting the low-end make up and cellphone products for the teen section and still getting the car and other “adult” stuff for the rest of the book.
Seventeen does not plan to use the popular A5 format (like Glamour and Wicked) but is going for the larger Marie Claire format (275x230mm) and will retail at R14.95. “We needed some differentiation,” says Sneddon, “and felt that the A5 format was no longer fresh.”
Seventeen will be on sale in October for November.